Rotor and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

A manufacturing method of a rotor includes the following steps. A substrate is processed to form a first patterned area, a second patterned area and a third patterned area. The second patterned area is formed around the first patterned area, and the third patterned area is connected to the second patterned area. The first patterned area is processed to form a case. The third patterned area is bent towards the case along a joint line between the second patterned area and the third patterned area to form the blades. The rotor includes a case, a connecting portion and the blades. The case is cylindrical and has a sidewall. The connecting portion is extended from one end of the sidewall of the case. The blades are extended from the connecting portion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 095118732 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on May 26, 2006, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The invention relates to a fan and a manufacturing method thereof, and in particular, to a fan integrally formed as a single piece and the manufacturing method thereof.

2. Related Art

The Fans are indispensable components in the applications of life or technology. They are the first choice for dissipating heat or flowing fluid.

The blades are very important for a fan, because they can affect the pressure, air quantity and noise of the fan. Conventionally, the blades are formed by plastic injection molding method. In practice, an injective envelope, which forms the blades, is formed on a case to be a rotor. However, the plastic blades are not rigid so that the characters, such as the pressure, air quantity or noise are worse if the fan is under the higher rotation speed or the blades are thinner.

To solve the rigid problem of blades, the manufacturers disclosed the blades, which are made of metal. FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a rotor 1, which is manufactured by processing a steel plate. In details, the steel plate is firstly punched to form several planar blades 11 and a connecting portion 12 connected the blades 11. Then, the blades 11 are bent along a line 13 by a desired angle so as to obtain the rotor 1 with the structure as shown in FIG. 1. However, the blades 11, which manufactured by the above-mentioned method, are not connected to any case. Hence, the rotor 1 only be applied to the axial air-gap induction motor instead of radial-flux induction motor, which has higher efficient.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of a rotor 2. To manufacture the rotor 2, the metal blades 21 are prepared previously. Then, the blades 21 are riveted or locked to a pre-formed case 22 with fixing elements 23. However, the blades 21 may deform due to the stress caused by riveting or locking. If the blades 21 are deformed, the deformed blades 21 will interfere the fan frame after assembling, which decreases the efficiency of the fan. In addition, the additional riveting or locking process is necessary in this case so that the manufacturing time is increased.

As above-mentioned, the conventional fan uses the metal blades for the purpose of faster rotation speed or thinner blades design. However, the application and manufacturing of the conventional metal blades still have the problem of poor adaptation. Therefore, it is an important subject to provide a rotor and manufacturing method thereof which can reduce the blades deformation issue while assembling the blades and the case so as to maintain the efficiency of the fan.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, the invention is to provide a rotor having better efficiency and manufacturing method thereof.

To achieve the above, the invention discloses a manufacturing method of a rotor, which includes the following steps. A substrate is processed to form a first patterned area, a second patterned area and a third patterned area. The second patterned area is formed around the first patterned area, and the third patterned area is connected to the second patterned area. The first patterned area is processed to form a cylindrical case. The third patterned area is bent towards the cylindrical case along a joint line between the second patterned area and the third patterned area to form a blade.

To achieve the above, the invention also discloses a rotor, which includes a case, a connecting portion and a blade. The case, which is cylindrical, has a sidewall. The connecting portion is extended from one end of the sidewall of the case. The blade is integrally formed with the connecting portion.

As mentioned above, the case, blade and connecting portion of the rotor of the invention are integrally formed. Thus, the conventional fixing elements are unnecessary. Moreover, the blade deforms causing by connecting the blade to the case in the prior art is prevented. In addition, the case of the invention is formed with a cylindrical. Therefore, the rotor is able to apply to the radial-flux induction motor, which has the higher efficient. Furthermore, because the rotor of the invention is integrally formed, the conventional process with riveting or locking is not necessary. Accordingly, the manufacturing time and the manufacturing cost are reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below illustration only, and thus is not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a conventional rotor;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing another conventional rotor;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a manufacturing method of a rotor according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D are schematic diagrams showing the rotor manufactured by the manufacturing method shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements.

Refer to FIG. 3, a manufacturing method of a rotor according to an embodiment of the invention includes the following steps S1 to S4. In the embodiment, the rotor of this embodiment is a rotor of a fan.

With reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, step S1 provides a substrate 30. In step S2, the substrate 30 is divided into a first patterned area 31, a second patterned area 32 and a third patterned area 33. The substrate 30 is a metal plate, which is made of iron, steel, aluminum, or aluminum alloy. The second patterned area 32 is formed around the first patterned area 31. The third patterned area 33 is connected to the second patterned area 32. In the embodiment, a joint line C1 is defined between the second patterned area 32 and the third patterned area 33. An axial portion H1 is formed at the center of the first patterned area 31.

In the embodiment, the first patterned area 31, the second patterned area 32 and the third patterned area 33 are formed by punching the substrate 30.

With reference to FIG. 4C, in step S3, the first patterned area 31 is processed to form a cylindrical case 31′ having a sidewall 311′. In the embodiment, the cylindrical case 31′ is cylindrical and is formed by processing the first patterned area 31 with a drawing process. The drawing process is, for example, a vacuum drawing process.

Alternatively, the cylindrical case 31′ and the first patterned area 31, the second patterned area 32 and the third patterned area 33 can be simultaneously formed. The cylindrical case 31′ is formed by the punching process. In other words, the step S2 and step S3 above mentioned can be performed simultaneously. As shown in FIG. 4C, because the cylindrical case 31′ has the sidewall 311′, an included angle, which is about 90 degrees, is formed between the second patterned area 32 and the sidewall 311′ of the cylindrical case 31′.

Referring to FIG. 4D, in step S4, the third patterned area 33 is bent towards the cylindrical case 31′ along the joint line C1 by about 90 degrees. Accordingly, the third patterned area 33 becomes the blade(s) 33′ of the rotor. In addition, the second patterned area 32 is defined as a connecting portion 32′, which connects the tubular case 31′ to the blade(s) 33′.

It is noted that, the axial portion H1 is used to connect a shaft if the rotor is combined with a stator. In the embodiment, the axial portion H1 is a through hole.

With reference to FIG. 4D, a rotor according to a preferred embodiment of the invention will be described hereinafter.

As shown in FIG. 4D, the rotor includes a cylindrical case 31′, a connecting portion 32′ and at least a blade 33′. In the embodiment, the cylindrical case 31′ has a sidewall 311′. The connecting portion 32′ is integrally formed with the cylindrical case 31′ and is connected to one end of the sidewall 311′ of the cylindrical case 311′. The blades(s) 33′ is integrally formed with the connecting portion 32′. The detailed descriptions of the rotor of the embodiment are illustrated in the previous embodiment, so the detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

In summary, the case, the blades and the connecting portion of the rotor of the invention are integrally formed. Thus, the conventional fixing elements are unnecessary, and the blades deformed causing by connecting the blades to the case in the prior art is prevented. In addition, the case of the invention is formed with a cylindrical case so that the rotor is applied to the radial-flux induction motor having higher efficient. Furthermore, the rotor of the invention is integrally formed so that the conventional process with riveting or locking is not necessary. Accordingly, the manufacturing time and the manufacturing cost are reduced.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention. 

1. A manufacturing method of a rotor, comprising steps of: processing a substrate to form a first patterned area, a second patterned area and a third patterned area, wherein the second patterned area is formed around the first patterned area, and the third patterned area is connected to the second patterned area; forming a cylindrical case by processing the first patterned area; and bending the third patterned area towards the cylindrical case along a joint line between the second patterned area and the third patterned area to form a blade.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first patterned area, the second patterned area and the third patterned area are formed by punching process.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical case is formed by processing the first patterned area with a drawing process, a vacuum drawing process or a punching process.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the third patterned area is bent towards the cylindrical case along the joint line by about 90 degrees.
 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of: forming an axial portion on the first patterned area.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the axial portion is a through hole.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is made of metal, iron, steel, aluminum or aluminum alloy.
 8. A rotor comprising: a case having a sidewall; a connecting portion connected to one end of the sidewall of the case; and a blade connected to the connecting portion, wherein the blade and the connecting portion are integrally formed as a single piece.
 9. The rotor according to claim 8, wherein the case is cylindrical.
 10. The rotor according to claim 8, wherein the case, the connecting portion and the blade are made of metal, iron, steel, aluminum or aluminum alloy.
 11. The rotor according to claim 8, wherein a first angle is formed between the connecting portion and the sidewall of the case.
 12. The rotor according to claim 11, wherein the first angle is about 90 degrees.
 13. The rotor according to claim 8, wherein a second angle is formed between the blade and the connecting portion.
 14. The rotor according to claim 13, wherein the second angle is about 90 degrees.
 15. The rotor according to claim 8, wherein the case and the connecting portion are integrally formed as a single piece.
 16. The rotor according to claim 8, wherein the rotor is applied to a fan.
 17. The rotor according to claim 8, wherein the case further comprises an axial portion.
 18. The rotor according to claim 17, wherein the axial portion is a through hole. 